Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
Taiwan is in a "precarious" position in the technology industry, Intel Chief Executive Pat Gelsigner said Monday as part of his company's continuing push for more geographic diversity in electronics manufacturing.
[...] Taiwan is home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the global leader in the semiconductor industry. It makes processors for tech giants including Apple, Nvidia, Qualcomm, AMD, Tesla and even Intel itself. But Taiwan is headquarters to plenty of other big players, including PC makers Acer and Asus, TSMC chipmaking rival United Microelectronics, and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., better known as Foxconn, which assembles iPhones at Chinese facilities.
Intel, of course, stands to benefit from any shift in chip manufacturing away from Taiwan. It's pledged to build chips for other companies, not just itself. To meet expected demand, Intel is building new chip fabrication plants, called fabs, in Ohio, Arizona and Germany. That chip "foundry" effort is new to Intel, but it's the core business for TSMC and Intel's other top rival, Samsung in South Korea.
[...] Taiwan's independence from China has come under greater scrutiny with Russia's invasion of neighboring Ukraine, which helped undermine the assumption that economic fallout would deter countries from going to war. [...]
One result of the problem was political will to boost chipmaking in the US through a five-year, $53 billion subsidy in the CHIPS and Science Act. [...]
"These things are long term," Gelsigner said. It took 30 years for today's electronics supply chains to build around the South China Sea, and President Joe Biden signing a massive government aid package is only a first step in reversing the trend, he said. But he believes the process is now underway.
"Where the oil reserves are defined geopolitics for the last five decades," Gelsinger said. "Where the fabs are for the next five decades is more important."
(Score: 2) by MIRV888 on Friday October 28 2022, @11:15AM (2 children)
Now that is American business. Management & CEO's always thinking ahead.
We'll have no need to back Taiwanese independence when China invades them if we have no business interests there.
I bet North Korea would build stuff real cheap.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by SomeRandomGeek on Friday October 28 2022, @04:17PM
That's one way to look at it. Another way to look at is is that:
1. The US will be in a stronger position to defend Taiwan if is not in the midst of a crisis where every US business dependent on chips comes to a sudden halt.
2. China will be less likely to attack Taiwan if attacking Taiwan is not seen as the most effective possible move against China's #1 geopolitical rival, the US.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 28 2022, @09:44PM
Intel is badmouthing its biggest competitor as it tries to convince anyone to use its fab services. News at 11.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 28 2022, @03:59PM (3 children)
We are collectively screwed because no one wants to expand fabs for low-margin jellybean parts
except for China, who we just gave the finger to.
(Score: 2) by legont on Friday October 28 2022, @11:21PM
This is, perhaps, the biggest point of the moment.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Saturday October 29 2022, @12:09AM (1 child)
Are jelly beans now part of the internet of things? Is this a better way to do surveillance on stomachs and intestines?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2022, @01:36AM
It refers to low cost parts that can be easily substituted with ones from another manufacturer.
It's a common enough term that a retail outlet for esoteric parts call themselves that. https://www.jellybean.parts/ [www.jellybean.parts]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by hendrikboom on Saturday October 29 2022, @12:12AM
Maybe Russia's invasion of Ukraine will serve as an example of why China shouldn't invade Taiwan. It all depends on how it ends.